Only the foolish would celebrate too hard the Wallabies’ 37-14 win against a spirited Fijian outfit in Melbourne on Saturday. Yes, of course Karmichael Hunt is a massive positive takeaway point – he was magnificent at 12 and is a match-day 23 keeper – but, overall, coach Michael Cheika should be deeply concerned about his side’s atrocious catch-and-pass skills.
It’s such a glaring inadequacy it renders all positives moot: Australia will lose more often than not against top tier opposition until players learn how to catch and pass accurately – and that means putting the ball in the space in front of support runners, and not behind them whereby players need to check their run and thus lose attacking momentum.
With the exception of two of the five Australian tries, the Wallabies were unquestionably poor at this fundamental aspect of the game. In fact, on this showing the Wallabies have never looked further adrift of the All Blacks who are undisputed masters of this core skill.
Poor catch-and-pass skills have been a blight on the Australian game for nigh on a decade now, and particularly so in the last two Super Rugby seasons. It has reached the point where excuses are regularly trotted out: “the Kiwis are innately better because they learn these skills from a younger age”, and so on. Indeed, that’s a reason why New Zealand rugby players catch and pass so well by default. But it’s not an excuse for Australian players being as inadequate as they are now. In fact, Australia used to be the envy of the rugby world for this elementary skill set with the Ella brothers, Michael Lynagh, Stephen Larkham, David Knox, Lloyd Walker to name a few leading exponents.
There simply isn’t a good enough reason for the Wallabies to be so lacking in this basic aspect of the game. It’s not as if it’s beyond them – the interchange between Hunt and Bernard Foley to put Israel Folau away for a gem of a try was a perfect example of flawless execution; players coming onto the ball in space – or where the space will be – and at pace. That was a classic Wallabies try of the kind we rarely see these days.
If Cheika and skills coach Mick Byrne (the former All Blacks kick and pass specialist) can sort out the Wallabies catch-and-pass basics, Australia can at least be competitive against the All Blacks during this year’s Bledisloe Cup/Rugby Championship. On the weekend’s showing though, the Wallabies will struggle to beat Scotland next up.
Cheika would have been pleased with what the Fijians brought to the contest. It’s always a coaching bonus to take big learnings away from a game which has been comfortably won. Too often these lessons only come from heartbreaking losses.
Unfortunately, one of the lessons from Saturday is that Wallabies captain Stephen Moore, 34, might not make it to the 2019 World Cup in Japan. Moore is backing himself to improve, but unless there’s a sharp upturn on what he showed off the bench against Fiji it might be the end for him. Michael Hooper’s permanent captaincy claims are becoming irresistible.
What of the Fijians, who will, likely qualification permitting, again play Australia in the World Cup pool stages? There is no mistaking Fiji are a team on the rise. Leone Nakarawa was magnificent and troubled the Wallabies no end. He truly is a world class player at the peak of his game.
The 37-14 scoreline suggests a comfortable Wallabies victory but it was far from that. Fiji butchered several try-scoring opportunities which, had passes stuck, could have seen the islanders sneak a famous win. The Wallabies would have noted the big omissions of Montpellier winger Nemani Nadolo and Toulon’s Josua Tuisova. And if Fiji can find a quality fly-half – Ben Volavola is simply not international quality – then it could be game on at the World Cup.
